Parents of students attending tertiary institutions have been challenged to work hard and save enough money for their children’s school fees.
Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Don Polye warned parents that higher learning is costly and parents should not rely on the government to help them every year.
In deliberating on the support provided to the education sector by the government including the Tertiary Education Student Assistance Scheme or TESAS, DHERST authorities are concerned that many parents do not prepare well to fund their children’s school fees at tertiary institutions.
The government has allocated K83 million this year for TESAS assistance. This money is to support students who have obtained scholarships from DHERST.
Acting Secretary for DHERST, Fr Jan Czuba shared that parents must be aware of other costs imposed by higher learning institutions and not expect the government to pay for everything.
“Higher Education institutions are not community schools and each institution is governed by the governing council which has the authority to set out the fees. The minister and I are not interfering in the governing council's decisions, if they set out the fees, they have to set the fees in consultation with parents. What the government does is it provides help through higher education programs and reduces costs through TESAS.”
Fr Jan added that parents and students should consider the costs when making their choices on which institution they’d like to attend.
“Students at universities can apply for the HELP Program which is K10,000, colleges K5,000, there is also TESAS and Hecas, these are help from the Government.”
Fr Jan emphasized that they expect parents to plan well for the education of their children and not to expect the government to do everything.
Higher Education Minister Don Polye supported Fr Jan’s call for parents not to wait for free handouts, but instead to prepare well for their children’s education.
“We must learn how to be responsible, this country can’t depend on the Government forever. The government’s job is to create a resilient economy, but paying for your food, clothes, education, and building yourself a house, these are your business. The government can assist where it can, why do we have to blame the government,” Polye said.
Meantime, the Higher Education Loan Program or HELP is available for students to apply for. K52 million has been allocated to this program in 2024. has an allocation of Kina 52 million this year.